How to Hire an Operations Manager
When you want to hire an operations staff, you can usually decipher from the resume if the person is a good fit for the job or not. You can also confirm their skills and knowledge during an interview and if they accept the salary, you may offer them the job.
But before you hire someone who may look like the best candidate, you have to be sure that you are hiring someone who has the appropriate soft skills, not just the technical know-how.
There are many operations recruitment firms you can consult that can easily fill the position, and we can show you how to assess the candidates, too.
Qualities of a Skilled Operations Manager
Here are the qualities that show whether the person you intend to hire is fit for the job.
1. They Prioritize Safety First, Then the Customers
They are directly responsible for everyone’s safety in the workplace. As a result, a good candidate would immediately identify, evaluate, and address safety problems. This demonstrates their loyalty to the company and its set standards. They will never place production before safety.
Additionally, they recognize that businesses must meet the demands of customers. This implies that they will quickly address issues related to the quality of products and delivery before coming up with ways to reduce operations costs.
It also implies that the operations manager must use positive words to describe customers. They should try to know what each customer needs and values from the services or products of the business.
2. They Project the Team Above Themselves
Operations managers should be decisive, tough, and confident. While these characteristics are useful, a skilled manager will always place the team in the limelight. When referring to the success of projects or their achievements, they use less of “I” and more of “us” and “we”.
When it comes to making presentations, they give room for other team members to present while they sit back to support. A good manager will always think about developing the members of their team.
A team will respect any leader who displays such traits. This respect is rewarded when the team follows the direction of the manager with so much confidence, even if they are drifting from the usual pattern of doing things.
Furthermore, a good operations manager is humble and will request help from their subordinates when needed. They do not see this as a weakness but as a symbol of strength because you need some measure of strength to expose your vulnerabilities and weaknesses and request help.
Besides being humble, they show respect to others. Behaviours like belittling staff, swearing, or shouting should not be found in any workplace. You may want to watch this video to know why good leaders make their team feel safe.
3. They Try to Find Out Why Things Went Wrong Not Who Was Responsible
A skilled operations manager doesn’t whine about their peers or subordinates. They do not focus on individuals but on the process. So, if anything goes wrong, they’ll try to find out why and find ways to resolve the cause of the problem.
It may be easier to pass the blame to someone but the best thing to do is to find out the actual cause of the problem. This may be time-consuming and difficult but in the long run, it will improve the sustainability of your business.
4. They Are Organized
Most times, managers have to handle a wide range of tasks. Therefore, the person you hire for that position has to be organized. This will reflect in an organized office and desk that displays some signs of a proven system for managing projects and daily activities.
Ideally, the manager has a system that consists of standard work or regular routines. They are documented and tracked to serve as evidence that work procedures are being followed. This could be in form of a checklist or tee cardboard.
Additionally, an organized manager must have an organized team. Therefore, the team members will create their own checklist for daily activities.
You can read https://www.quickbase.com/blog/how-to-hire-an-operations-manager-with-people-skills
to find some more useful tips for hiring an operations manager.
Conclusion
There are more qualities of a skilled operations manager, but we can’t exhaust them in this article. However, the few qualities we discussed would serve as a guide for when you want to hire an operations manager or just any manager.
